Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet and remove from heat. Stir in cinnamon, salt, and 1 tablespoon brown sugar, then stir in bread crumbs. Sprinkle one third of crumbs over bottom of a 1-quart shallow baking dish. Peel and coarsely chop 2 apples. Cook with water and remaining 2 tablespoons brown sugar in a 1 1/2-quart saucepan, covered, over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes. Purée chopped apples with cooking liquid in a blender.

Peel remaining 2 apples and cut into 1/4-inch-thick wedges. Arrange wedges over crumbs, then pour hot purée over wedges. Sprinkle with remaining crumbs. Bake in middle of oven until top is golden brown and apples are tender, about 40 minutes. Cool on a rack 10 minutes and serve with frozen yogurt.

I heard "Apple Brown Betty" referred to on a recent rerun of a Will and Grace episode. Decided to look it up on here, and made the recipe this evening. Wow! I used a day old baguette for the bread crumbs and granny smith apples. Made the kitchen smell wonderful. Tasted even better. Not too sugary sweet...nice apple and cinnamon taste and nice crispy texture on top. To those who have panned this recipe, if you want a sweet apple desert, bake an apple pie. Will be making this again very soon!

I am so sorry I didn't read the reviews before I make this dish. Brown Bettys have been one of my favorite desserts for 50 years, and this one is so bad that my family opted to eat the ice cream (substituted for the frozen yoghurt) instead of the Brown Betty. It is not nearly sweet enough, so it is necessary to provide a large scoop of ice cream or yoghurt with the serving. The coarse bread crumbs on top are crisp all right - brown and dry is a better description. I would not bother to make this recipe again.

The other reviews here seem to be unhappy with this dish not for what it is but for what it is not. True, it's not really a standout, but it is a perfect recipe for classic comfort food and a very nice change from too sugary desserts. Success with this particular recipe probably relies on what kind of bread crumbs you use. My advice: get the freshest baguette or French bread loaf you can find.

I used salted butter since I didn't have unsalted - big mistake. But even if I'd made it with unsalted butter, I don't think I would've liked this desert too much. It was basically apple mush
with an indifferent topping. Apple crisp is much
better, in my opinion.